March 2014

Gloucester dad found with indecent images and videos of children on laptop

AN isolated 26-year-old was found with indecent pictures and videos of children on his laptop following a police bust.

Blaine Ferguson was also found in possession of extreme pornographic videos, a court heard.

Ferguson, of Thrush Close in Abbeydale, pleaded guilty to eight counts relating to the child images and three of extreme pornography.

Prosecutor Janine Wood said officers from Gloucestershire Constabulary’s internet investigations team raided his home on September 19, last year and confiscated his computer.

She said they revealed 72 videos relating to children, of which 49 contained level four material – level five is the most serious.

She told Gloucester Crown Court: “He knew exactly what those files would contain, but said he had only viewed a fraction of the material, which was in excess of 18 hours.”

The court heard changes to the probation service, which take effect in June, would make it hard for Ferguson to complete a sexual offenders programme.

Later this year, the service will only deal with high risk offenders and medium and low risk criminals will be dealt with by a private firm.

But defending George Threfall said Ferguson, a dad-of-one, was determined to complete the program and get help.

He said: “This young man and his parents are keen he should take advantage (of it) and if anything he would give up work and get it done.

“In his meeting with probation he said ‘I need to do everything I can to improve myself as a person’.

“He broke up with his partner and he started drinking. He became excluded and started to view more of this type of material.

“It is unusual given he is outgoing, sporty, competitive and hard working. His long-term friends are pretty shocked by this.”

Judge Jamie Tabor QC placed Ferguson on a 36-month community order with supervision and ordered he undergo a 90 day programme, pay £500 costs and a victim surcharge.

Ferguson will also have to sign the sexual offenders register for five years.

March 2014

Ex-lab technician at Spires Academy in Canterbury jailed for trying to lure boy of 14 to Broadstairs home for sex

A former Canterbury school lab technician claimed he was “seduced” by internet chat rooms… and then tried to do the same to a young boy.

Pervert Daniel Pay began chatting with a 14-year-old and shared erotic fantasies – before enticing him to visit his Broadstairs home.

But Canterbury Crown Court heard the planned rendezvous never happened and the 27-year-old was arrested.

Now Pay, of High Street, has been jailed for two years after being found guilty of five charges of enticing a child to engage in sexual activity.

The technician at Spires Academy in Canterbury – who had denied the offences – claimed he had not realised the boy was under the legal age.

But Judge James O’Mahony told him: “Your victim was but 14 at the time, which I am sure you well knew because he made a number of references about going to school.”

Detectives unearthed a dialogue between the two that revealed ”detailed planning” for sex together together with directions to Pay’s home.

The judge said the meeting “never occurred and in fact there was no actual touching” between the two.

He said that despite the youngster being complicit in the internet chats, the law was there to protect children who were too young to make important life decisions.

Helen McCormack, defending, said Pay had turned to the computer to make contact with other homosexual men.

“It seems he was rather seduced by the ease that connections could be made,” she said. “He was reckless in not checking properly the age of the person he was talking to.”

Judge O’Mahony read extracts from an explicit conversation in which Pay encouraged the child to engage in sex.

He told how Pay invited the teenager to visit him and how he promised him “a birthday treat”.

“That would have led to sexual acts if you could have done it and all for your sexual gratification,” the judge added. “You were twice his age.

“Your victim mercifully has not suffered any lasting harm, but that’s no thanks to you.”

He jailed him for two years and issued a sex offences prevention order for 10 years.

Pay took a job as a warehouseman after being sacked from the school.

March 2014

Grimsby man found with indecent child images, extreme pornography and ‘snuff’ movies on his computer is jailed

POLICE found sick images of indecency, animals and “snuff” movies after examining a man’s computer, a court heard.

Christopher Garrod, 34, of Cromwell Road, Grimsby, admitted making indecent images of a child and eight offences of possessing extreme pornography in 2011.

Gordon Stables, prosecuting, told Grimsby Crown Court that police received an anonymous tip-off through Crimestoppers about Garrod’s indecent images.

They already had his computer because, at the time, he was being investigated for a theft from his employer.

He received a community sentence for that matter.

The computer was examined and 32 indecent images of the same girl were found.

The extreme pornography included images of animals and “snuff” movies in which faked apparent death scenes were shown.

Craig Lowe, mitigating, said there had been no further offending for the past couple of years.

He also told the court that Garrod claimed he had not accessed the internet so that he would not see such material in a bid to stop his offending.

The three “snuff” movies involved actors. Garrod was ashamed of his behaviour and wished he had never done it.

He was jailed for six months and given a five-year sexual offences prevention order.

If you have concerns you believe the police should investigate, call Crimestoppers on 0800 555111.

March 2014

Raploch mums bid to oust pervert

A crowd gathered outside the house of pervert Albert Zalewski (43), in the estate’s Drip Road, just yards from three primary schools and a nursery, based in the nearby Raploch Community Campus.

Following a protest outside the house on Sunday night, a crowd of around 30 Raploch residents gathered again on Monday morning.

They displayed banners calling for his removal and chanted “paedophile out.”

There was no sign of Zalewski, however, and the curtains at the property remained drawn as the protest got underway.

Two windows at the house were boarded up and a police presence was maintained throughout the demonstration.

Zalewski’s vile offences came to light following his appearance at Stirling Sheriff Court last month. With court proceedings being translated into Polish for Zalewski, fiscal depute Nicola Henderson said that police got a warrant to search his home, which took place on May 14 last year.

This search uncovered a cache of 64 sickening videos, 11 of which contained indecent images of children, with the remaining 53 classed as “extreme”.

The fiscal depute said that the videos generally involved girls aged eight to 16-years-old involved in sexual activities with adult males. Others were said to involve women engaged in sexual activities “with horses or dogs”.

Zalewski later pleaded guilty to possessing the indecent images of children and the extreme pornography. Sentence was deferred until March 26 for reports and he was placed on the sex offenders’ register.

This week, Raploch residents told the Observer that they wanted Zalewski out of their community.

Mum Laura (31), who has children at the nearby Raploch Primary, said that she had helped gather support for the protest online.

She said: “I put it on Facebook. The community should stand together and get him out. He’s only 100 yards from the school.

“We want them [the children] to be able to walk to school themselves without having to worry about things like this.

“There was a group of us here last night [Sunday]. But we want to do things peacefully.”

March 2014

Judge defends detention of victim

A judge has defended his decision to order a 15-year-old sex abuse victim to be locked up overnight when she disappeared from court saying: “Those who decry the process that has taken place in this case should be careful what they wish for.”

Judge Robert Bartfield was speaking as he sentenced Abid Miskeen, 32, of Little Horton Road, Bradford to seven years in prison for sexual activity with a child at Bradford Crown Court today.

Miskeen was convicted yesterday by a jury that heard evidence from the girl, who was 14-years-old when Miskeen had sex with her in June 2013.

Earlier in the three-day trial, the girl disappeared when she was supposed to give evidence following a delay in the case.

Judge Bartfield agreed to a request from prosecutors to have the girl and other absent witnesses arrested by police and detained until she gave her evidence the next day.

He acknowledged “some concern has been expressed about this”. But sentencing Miskeen today, the judge said to him: “What’s plain is that had she not been present to give evidence, you would have walked free from the court last Thursday.”

The judge said that although the girl was technically a prosecution witness, she was required to be at court as part of the defence case and Miskeen could not have had a fair trial without her evidence.

The judge explained that the girl supported Miskeen’s argument that he did not know she was under 16 but, on the jury’s verdict, she was lying to protect him.

He said: “The suggestion she was in some way forced into the witness box by the prosecution to give evidence on their behalf is wholly misconceived.”

Charlotte Kenny, defending, confirmed that if prosecutors had not produced the complainant to give evidence, she would have made submissions that Miskeen could not have had a fair trial.

Judge Bartfield said: “For better or worse that’s the way our system works.”

Judge Bartfield made a statement explaining his actions.

He said: “When the case was called on, no witnesses were present, including the complainant, a 15-year-old girl, described a vulnerable.

“I granted an application by (the prosecutor) for a warrant for arrest of those witnesses after a full hearing, which is now a matter of public record.

“Some concern has been expressed about this but there needs to be a fuller understanding of what took place.”

The judge said: “Without her evidence the trial would have collapsed.”

He said the girl had been allowed out for a cigarette as she waited for the delayed trial to begin on Wednesday last week.

“It was thought that she still harboured strong feeling for the defendant,” he said.

“She absconded and her whereabouts were not known.

“Her contact with other witnesses led the prosecution to believe she was seeking to influence them.”

The judge said his comments were not intended to be critical of the girl “who was plainly driven by strong emotions”.

He said: “The police and CPS, both of whom are under a duty of care to their witnesses, felt that there was no alternative but to apply for warrants of arrest for all of them, including (the girl).

“I pointed out that this could lead to the overnight detention of this complainant in a police station, which I wished to avoid. Other alternative ways of dealing with this were examined, including the delaying of the warrant until Thursday, but the officer in the case felt that this would not procure the attendance of the witness.”

The judge said: “This was a serious allegation of sexual abuse. There is a strong public interest in proceeding to trial in such a case and I was not prepared to have it subverted.”

Judge Bartfield said: “Unhappily, (the girl) spent the night in a police station and was produced in custody at court which no judge would like to see.”

He explained that she had to spend a further four hours in the cells at court until it was time for her give evidence.

“I explained to (the girl) the reasons for her detention and my regret that there had been no alternative.”

She appeared to understand and said she was sorry.

“She struck me as giving evidence as calm and clear in what she had to say.”I believe that the interests of justice have been served despite the ‘cost’ to which I have referred.”

Adam Pemberton, assistant chief executive of Victim Support, said: ” It is utterly shameful that any vulnerable witness let alone a child who has been the victim of sustained sexual exploitation could be treated in such a grotesque and, frankly, degrading manner by those who are supposed to be protecting her.

“The spectacle of a child spending the hours before she gives evidence against her abuser locked up in cells at a police station and at court is nothing short of Dickensian and must never be allowed to happen again.

“This victim needed to be supported not criminalised and her treatment underlines how critical it is that the police, the Crown Prosecution Service and the courts understand and prioritise the needs of vulnerable victims and witnesses.”

The judge heard how the girl was made pregnant by father-of-two Miskeen and later chose to have a termination.

He told the defendant: “You befriended her, effectively groomed her into having a relationship with you and your intention was to have sexual intercourse with her.”

He heard that Miskeen had a string of previous convictions, including for robbery, assault and dangerous driving, but none were for sexual offences.

The judge said he was given a community order in 2012 for punching his partner and he was in breach of this order at the time of the offence against the girl.

He said Miskeen would be on the sex offenders register for life.

“You have not shown one iota of remorse or regret for what you did,” Judge Bartfield said.

“Your only regret is for the circumstances you now find yourself in.”

The judge gave Miskeen the maximum sentence possible for this category of offence.

A Crown Prosecution Service spokeswoman said: ” Seeking a warrant and remanding a child witness is an exceptional step and all other options were explored and exhausted before the warrant was applied for as we felt it was necessary in this instance for the trial to continue.

“We carefully considered whether the case could proceed without live evidence from the victim and concluded that her evidence was vital for the case to proceed.

“The decision to seek a warrant was taken with the police and approved by the trial judge. We understand that this course of action was both unwelcome and extremely difficult for the victim in this case, but there was a strong public interest in proceeding, to protect not just this victim but other children in the future. The defendant in this case has now been convicted for a very serious sexual offence and sentenced to seven years imprisonment.”

A spokeswoman for the judiciary said procedures relating to the management of vulnerable witnesses and listing cases were being revisited following the trial.

She said: ” It is a very unusual and exceptional step for young witnesses to be made subject to a witness warrant and held in custody in order to secure attendance at court.

“In this case, there was evidence called by the prosecution which the judge ruled justified the exceptional course of making such an order.

“While best practice dictates, and every effort is made to list cases involving vulnerable witnesses at the start of the day, in busy court centres the volume of these types of cases makes it impossible for all of them to start at 10am.”

The spokeswoman said that the judiciary would review and amend listing processes at Bradford Crown Court “to avoid the situation happening again where a vulnerable witness has to wait a long time at court prior to giving evidence”.

She said: “Processes will be revisited to ensure that where there is a genuine need to compel young witnesses to attend court, every effort is made to find a solution which ensures they are not detained in police cells overnight.

“For several years judges have been provided with training on the management of vulnerable witnesses, which is kept constantly under review, and this year the Judicial College is launching a new course devoted to the subject.”

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A 15-year-old victim of child sexual abuse was locked up in a police cell for 20 hours after she refused to give evidence against her attacker.

The child victim was held in police cells overnight on a judge’s orders before giving evidence that lasted only 22 minutes even though she had committed no crime. Her ordeal has led to demands for an investigation at the highest levels of the judiciary, The Times reported.

Judge Robert Bartfield’s decision to order the child’s arrest and detention at the request of police and prosecutors was condemned as Dickensian and utterly shameful by legal experts and child care professionals.

Victim Support were outraged that the girl “could be treated in such a grotesque and degrading manner by those who were supposed to be protecting her”. The NSPCC said that “all elements of the justice system failed this girl”.

The man who groomed her was more than twice her age and had made the girl pregnant at 14. She did not want to give evidence because she had strong feelings for him, the court in Bradford was told.

NSPCC, the children’s charity, said that “all elements of the justice system failed this girl”.

Judges and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) are given guidance warning that trials “can be daunting and stressful for children” who must not be caused “unnecessary worry and distress”.

Measures to protect young abuse victims during trials were brought in last year. Lengthy cases involving multiple defendants are now tried by a hand-picked panel of specialist judges.

After her arrest and overnight detention last week at a police station in West Yorkshire, the child was held in cells at Bradford Crown Court for a further 4½ hours before giving evidence. 

A jury yesterday took less than two hours to return a unanimous guilty verdict against the girl’s abuser for sexual activity with a child.

The child witness in the latest case walked out of the court after a series of lengthy delays, stating that she did not want to give evidence. Gerald Hendron, for the prosecution, made a successful application to Judge Bartfield for an arrest warrant against the child, who was detained and held overnight at Halifax police station. Arrest warrants were also issued for a further three witnesses.

A spokeswoman for Judiciary of England and Wales promised an immediate review of the way trials were listed at Bradford Crown Court “to avoid the situation happening again where a vulnerable witness has to wait a long time at court prior to giving evidence”.

Judge Bartfield issued a statement yesterday saying that the trial would have collapsed without the girl’s evidence and that the police and CPS felt there was no alternative but to apply for an arrest warrant after she went missing. He added that he regretted the girl’s detention but said the interests of justice had been served.

March 2014

Pervert posed as talent scout to groom schoolgirl over internet

A paedophile who posed as a model agency talent scout to groom a 14-year-old girl has been jailed for ten months.

The sheriff berated prosecutors for limiting her sentencing options by pursuing Ross Addison on a summary complaint instead of a wider ranging solemn indictment.

Sheriff Fiona Tait said the lenient decision denied her the chance to protect the public from Addison by placing him on an extended supervision order after he serves his prison term.

She said it also meant that the maximum sentence she could impose would be ten months instead of five years if he had been prosecuted as a solemn case.

Nightshift worker Addison used Facebook to make contact with his victim and groomed her into sending him sexually explicit photographs of herself.

Creepy Addison conned his naive victim into sending him more than 100 sexual images of herself along with a number of explicit video clips.

Addison – who used the name Talent Scout in his email address – duped the girl by promising that she could earn up to £20,000 with her pictures.

He started by asking the girl for naked pictures but quickly began demanding more graphic images and videos of her performing sex acts.

The 27-year-old pervert made contact initially with the girl through a friend request on the social networking site and convinced her he was working as a talent finder for a model agency.

The girl was a total stranger to him, Perth Sheriff Court was told, but she was taken in by his promises of large cash rewards for her pictures despite being too young to model legally.

Over the course of ten-month’s online contact, the girl sent more than 100 indecent photographs and ten indecent videos, filmed on her webcam, to the computer at his home in Kinross.

Email records showed that he suggested she pose in her underwear and then naked, before progressing to suggest that the youngster perform a series of degrading sex acts.

Twisted Addison replied to one of her emails: “Wow, these pictures are probably the best so far. In fact they are the best. You’ve definitely made them sexy and dirty enough.”

Addison’s grooming of the girl, who lived in Consett, County Durham, was finally brought to a halt when her horrified mother spotted some of the sexually explicit images on her daughter’s laptop.

She contacted the police and a cross-border investigation was carried out which led them to Addison’s home.

By checking the email correspondence, the police established that Addison had promised money for pictures of the girl, both naked and in her underwear.

However, he had warned her he would only pay “if they were any good.”

The girl confirmed that Addison had never paid her a penny for any of the material she sent him and had suddenly cut off all contact with her.

Addison said that he had been driven to commit the offence through a combination of boredom, alcohol and cannabis use.

Addison, Springfield Park, Kinross, admitted asking a child to produce sexually explicit images and videos of herself between December 2010 and September 2011.

He also admitted possessing indecent photographs of children on 16 September 2011.

He was placed on the Sex Offenders Register for ten years and jailed for ten months yesterday.

Sheriff Tait said: “The court has been put in a very difficult position, given that he has been prosecuted at summary level, so the court doesn’t have the extended sentencing option open to it.

“This was a child. She was 14 at the time. It seems to me that the gravity of the offence screams out for custody. There is the importance of a punishment element.

“Given that it was prosecuted at summary level, the court should not feel constrained about looking at custody. I am concerned that the case was prosecuted at summary level.

“Nonetheless, given the gravity I am not persuaded there is an alternative to custody and it seems to me it’s at the highest level of summary prosecution.”

As Addison pled guilty to the offence he had his sentence discounted from the maximum 12 months, and may be released on a home curfew within just 75 days.

Addison had initially faced a total of six charges alleging that he had posed as a talent scout for nearly six years to obtain sexual material from unwitting females. The Crown accepted his not guilty pleas to four of the charges.

March 2014

Pervert who kept a stash of indecent images on his computer has been spared jail

Anthony Thomas Bullough, 32, who was living in Chorley but is now of no fixed address, pleaded guilty to 11 counts of possessing indecent images when he appeared at Preston Crown Court.

Some of the images depicted children as young as eight.

Mr Joe Almond, prosecuting, told the court police executed a search warrant at the home Bullough lived in with his brother and grandmother in Chorley on August 15, 2012.

Bullough was arrested and his computer was seized. He told officers they would find indecent images on the computer as he had stumbled upon them while trying to download a film.

Bullough was released on bail but in July last year officers returned to the address to execute a further warrant and Bullough told officers he had child pornography on his computer.

During police interview Bullough said he had been speaking to children on Skype and had intended to ask them to send him pictures of themselves. However, the court heard there was no evidence Bullough had ever done that.

Mr Almond said: “He talked as if he wanted a sexual encounter with children and wanted to meet up. He went on to say he would never go through with it because he feared if he met up with them they would not transpire to be children. He wanted to meet them but he was fearful of being assaulted.”

Mr Mark Goodwin, defending, told the court: “He feels better now things are out in the open. He is desperate for help. He has no intention of reoffending but he knows the reality of what he calls an addiction, that it does require treatment and he is eager to have that.”

Bullough, who is now homeless, was handed a three-year community order with supervision. He must take part in a sex offenders’ programme plus sign the register for seven years.

March 2013

Craghead man jailed for seven years over historic sex offences

A DEFENDANT described as a “quiet family man” has been jailed for seven years after he was convicted of a series of historic sexual offences.

Mark Kevin Wright’s crimes were accompanied by threats towards the victim “not to tell”, Teesside Crown Court heard.

The father-of-two, who was found guilty of two rapes and three indecent assaults on a young girl following a trial, continued to deny the offences and was supported in court by several family members.

His barrister Andrew Finlay said he did not have an adult’s understanding of the offences at the time and all but one had been committed before he was aged 14.

Mr Finlay said Wright had been described as a quiet family man in a pre-sentence report and was in stable employment.

He said: “His current partner and two children will have to deal with the consequences of what he has done before he came to be the person he is now.”

Judge John Walford said the now 24-year-old Wright, of  Craghead, Stanley, County Durham, had persisted against the wishes of the victim.

He told him: “Had you been an adult when these offences were committed the sentence would have been measured in double figures.”

The young girl was aged just six years old when the abuse began and it lasted for seven years until the girl had turned thirteen years old

The judge said the least sentence he could pass was seven years. Wright will have to sign on the sex offenders register for life after he he released from prison at the end of his sentence.

March 2014

Falkirk man took sneaky photos of children

A 41 year old man from Falkirk took photographs of schoolchildren, some as young as 8 while out shopping.

Falkirk Sheriff Court heard how Stephen Fitzpatrick snapped the youngsters at Central Retail Park in October 2012.

Police found almost 8,000 indecent images of children on his home computer.

Sentence was deferred for background reports while Fitzpatrick was placed on the Sex Offenders register and granted bail.

March 2014

Pervert changes his name after pleading guilty to sexual assaults

A pervert who admitted several counts of sexual assaults on male children has changed his name after he was sentenced.

Daniel Michael Dodd, 23 (who now calls himself Dan Boyce) appeared at Newcastle crown court on 3rd March and pleaded guilty to four counts of sexual assault on children aged under 16 years old. All the offences relate to males.

The court heard that Dodd allowed several male children who were aged between 13 and 15 years old into his flat. Dodd bought the children cigarettes and alcohol and it was at this stage that he sexually assaulted them.

Original charges of grooming a child under 16 years old, were dropped.

Dodd was sentenced to a community order. He will be required to attend a programme for sex offenders. 

Dodd will also be subject to a supervision order by the probation service for a rehabilitation period of three years

He will have to sign the sex offenders register for the rest of his life

March 2014

Man who had sex with girlfriend’s dog receives four-month suspended sentence

A teenager who recorded himself having sex with a Staffordshire bull terrier has been handed a suspended jail sentence.

Wayne Bryson was caught when his shocked girlfriend stumbled across footage of the attack on his mobile phone.

Bryson of Harvey’s Lane, Louth, admitted breaching the Sexual Offences Act by “performing an act of sexual penetration” on the dog on January 17.

Today he appeared at Skegness Magistrates’ Court to be sentenced.

Prosecuting solicitor Paul Woods told how Bryson’s girlfriend was looking for photographs of their child on his phone when she came across a video of her dog, called Rudi.

This picture of a Staffordshire bull terrier is NOT the actual dog which was raped

He said: “The dog was shaking in a back and forwards motion. She could see a man’s penis going in and out of the animal. The clip was about 30 seconds long.”

Defence solicitor Gordon Holt said there was nothing to suggest Bryson had sexual deviant tendencies, despite accepting that this particular act was sexually deviant.

“There may be all sorts of reasons why a boy gets up to something as stupid and disgusting as this,” he said.

He also said the 19-year-old’s entire life had been “swept away for 30 seconds of madness”.

“The consequences are extensive and will continue to blight his life. His family have disowned him and his girlfriend has ended their relationship,” he added.

“He was interviewed about the offence and he admitted he had penetrated the vagina of the dog and that he had videoed it on his phone. He said it lasted 30 seconds and that he did not ejaculate.”

Mr Holt added: “He recorded it. He does not know why but he has not circulated it.”

Bryson, who has no history of animal cruelty, was given a four-month jail sentence, suspended for two years. He was also given a one-year supervision order and was ordered to pay an £80 victim surcharge. He was also placed on the sex offenders’ register for seven years and banned from owning animals for two years.

He also admitted to possessing 315 grammes of cannabis bush on January 22.

When magistrates adjourned to consider a report, there were jeers from the public gallery. One man shouted: “He is a beast, a dog has got no voice.”

March 2014

Man posed as ‘Sarah’ in bid to have sex with boy, 14 – walks free from court

A PENPARCAU man pretended to be “Sarah from Aberaeron” in the hope of having sex with a teenage boy, a judge heard last week.

Lee Gallagher, 26, of 82 Heol Tyny-fron, admitted inciting a 14-year-old boy to engage in sexual activity.

Robin Rouch, prosecuting, told Swansea Crown Court how Gallagher had exchanged messages with the boy on Facebook pages.

In September, 2012, Gallagher told the boy that a “Sarah from Aberaeron” was interested in talking to him and provided a mobile telephone number.

The boy forwarded his own mobile number and “it escalated from there”.

Mr Rouch said the main offending took place on 30 September when Gallagher sent messages saying that “Sarah” would like to perform a sex act on him. More text messages followed suggesting a meeting later that day, but the boy became suspicious.

The following day the boy’s mother confiscated her son’s mobile because he had been misbehaving and received a message from Gallagher, who was still pretending to be Sarah.

She then read the series of messages from the day before. A friend entered the telephone number on the internet and traced it to Gallagher.

After his arrest he told police that others had had access to his telephone and that he was not responsible for the messages.

But after further investigation he confessed.

Mr Rouch said the 14-year-old now felt “stupid, embarrassed and humiliated”.“

He is now more aware of the dangers of social networking sites,” added Mr Rouch.

Carina Hughes, representing Gallagher, said he and his family lived in a small community and had been subjected to abuse once news of his arrest had circulated.

“He was under the influence of something at the time, either alcohol or drugs,” she added.Miss Hughes said no photographs had been exchanged and although Gallagher accepted he had been sex-ually motivated, no meetings had taken place.

Judge Michael Burr said Gallagher needed guidance and made a series of rulings.

He was made the subject of a three-year community order during which he must undertake 250 hours of whatever courses the probation service decided would help to stop him from reoffending.

Gallagher, unemployed and with a record of 27 previous offences, was also banned from contacting the boy or his mother and served with a Sex Offences Prevention Order banning him from contact with children.

He was also ordered to register with the police as a sex offender.

Judge Burr warned Gallagher it was a “tough” order and that if he failed to comply with any of the re-quirements he would go to prison.

March 2014

Man who sent indecent pictures of children by email gets suspended sentence

A man has been given a suspended prison sentence for sending illegal sexual images of children by email.

When police tracked down Theodore Harry Ford’s email address to his physical address, they found 186 sexual images of underage girls and 20 extreme pornographic images on his laptop and eight images he admitted he was responsible for on his brother’s laptop, said Nick Adlington, prosecuting.

They also found many chat room references by him to the sharing and sending of sexual images of children.

Ford, 23, of Jorvik Close, Acomb, pleaded guilty to seven offences relating to indecent images of youngsters.

His barrister, Steven Crossley, said the untimely death of his mother had affected him.

“He became during that period isolated and withdrawn,” Mr Crossley told York Crown Court.

The Recorder of York, Judge Stephen Ashurst, said in the present climate, many teenagers and young people gave very little thought of the long-term consequences of sending images of themselves and Ford may have become “desensitised” to the images he was sending.

He accepted that Ford had been “low and depressed”.

He said testimonials from Ford’s relatives and friends that he had behaved out of character because of matters in his background and his guilty plea had saved him from an immediate trip to jail.

He gave Ford a five-month prison sentence suspended for two years with two years’ supervision and a compulsory sex offender treatment programme, restricted his use of the internet.

The judge also put him on the sex offenders’ register and disqualified him from working with children. He also warned him he would be embarrassed through having to attend the programme.

“You have only yourself to blame for this,” he said.

He added that the sentence would “seriously restrict” his ability if he wanted to travel abroad, but that was all part of the punishment.

March 2014

Suspended sentence for man who has sex with child

A Blackpool man who accessed indecent images of children, via the internet, later admitted to a probation officer he had sex with a 15-year-old child.

Kevin Davey accepted police claims he had talked about sex to boys in chat rooms and that he was attracted to children.

Preston Crown Court also heard that he led an isolated life and only communicated with people through the web.

The 43-year-old of Clevedon Road, North Shore, was given a six-month prison sentence, suspended for two years, with two years supervision and ordered to complete a sex offenders treatment programme.

Davey pleaded guilty to 12 offences of making and possessing indecent images of children.

David Clarke, prosecuting, said police visited the defendant’s then home on Station Road, South Shore in February 2013. They had been alerted by the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Unit that images of concern had been downloaded.

A check showed that between the December 2012 and February 2013, 102 indecent images at level one had been accessed. That often related to children as young as 10 posing in underwear.

As well as 19 images had been accessed at level two, four at level three and four at level four, which showed sex between children and adults.

Mr Clarke added: “In a pre sentence report by probation there are troubling admissions, in the defendant speaking of having had sex with a 15- year-old and having apparently sent images out, when he has been involved with child .”

Defence barrister John Woodward said his client had endured a difficult life.

He said: “He has been very frank, effectively he has admitted committing a further offence, perhaps more serious than what he has been charged with.”

Judge Anthony Russell said, as he passed sentence, that the public interest in the case would be best served by making a suspended prison sentence, together with supervision and a community sex offender treatment programme.

Davey will be on the sex offenders’ register for seven years and barred from having any contact with children under 16

March 2014

Jail for respected Kingsdown Scout leader from St Margaret’s nr Dover after child sex abuse shame revealed

A Scout leader has been jailed for nine months for downloading more than 2,500 indecent pictures of children being sexually abused – some as young as two.

Peter Turner, 56, was highly respected by countless boys and girls at the Deal 12th (Kingsdown) Cub group.

But his voluntary position as Akela there was not enough to protect him when his vile secrets were discovered.

In March last year, police raided the home Turner shared with his mother and brother in Kingsdown Road, St Margaret’s.

He claimed when he searched the internet for “models”, he was looking for images of trains.

But police officers did not believe him and took his computer away for analysis.

They found sick images of children as young as four being abused – 15 at the worst level five, 329 at level four, 359 level three, 95 level two and 1,800 at level one.

Turner pleaded guilty to five charges of making and possessing indecent images at Canterbury Crown Court.

Now, in addition to his jail term, Turner is expected to be banned from working with children for life.

He wrote to his lawyers: “I wish I was dead… my life is over. I must have been out of my mind.”

He admitted all the charges, including downloading sex images of a two-year-old child.

Prosecutor Alex Rooke told the court Kent Police received a tip-off from officers in Gloucestershire.

“He told officers he had been putting in the terms ‘models’ into the internet search engine, which was to do with his interest in railway information, but that had brought up pictures of girls.

“He said he would navigate away from them and didn’t save them. He said he was a Scout leader and had downloaded images to do with Scouting.”

Mr Rooke said the computer was forensically examined and more than 2,500 images were discovered.

Turner later wrote a letter to his lawyers, which was read out to the court, saying: “When it all started I was mad that these sites said they were legal… one site led to another. At no time did I pay anyone.

“Before I knew it I was downloading more and more. I can’t believe how I could have done this without knowing.

“I wish I was dead and don’t care any more. As far as I’m concerned, my life is over. I have never harmed a kid in my life. I still can’t think of what happened. I must have been out of my mind.”

Niall Doherty, defending, said Turner was “deeply ashamed” and had turned to downloading the illegal images out of boredom.

But Judge Simon Taylor told the Scout leader he had been accessing vile images at a time when he was looking after children of a similar age.

“I regard that as a substantial aggravating feature and what is clear is that you have little insight into your behaviour.

“It is impossible to conclude other than the fact you have an underlying sexual interest in children.

“Right-minded people are entitled to ask the courts that those who seek out these vile abuse images should receive real and meaningful punishment.”

Turner was also ordered to sign the sex offenders’ register for 10 years and given a sex offenders’ prevention order to protect children in future.

Scout Association spokesman Chris Foster said it “condemns the actions of Turner”.

He added: “Turner was suspended from any form of contact with the movement as soon as we were informed by police.

“We can confirm that he will never again be allowed to work within the Scout movement.”

March 2014

Teen who groomed Warrington girls for sex is jailed

AN 18-YEAR-OLD man who groomed schoolgirls on Facebook for sex has been jailed for 40 months.

Chester Crown Court heard on Friday how Lewis Thorpe travelled by train from his Nottingham home to meet 14-year-old girls in Warrington to coerce them into having sex.

He added them as ‘friends’ on Facebook, taking one to have sex fields at Bennetts Rec, Padgate.

Sentencing Thorpe to a Young Offenders Institute, Judge Andrew Hatton said: “Your victims you met through Facebook and you had cultivated their friendship with a view to having sexual intercourse.

“I anticipate all three victims blame themselves and they should not.

“They should blame an 18-year-old man who should know better.

“You made determined efforts to have sex with girls you knew were only 14 years of age.

“You clearly have a fascination of having sex with girls of a young age.

“You knew it was wrong.”

Thorpe, of Gritts Common, Cottsgrave, cried when the verdict was delivered, and sobbed ‘oh my God’.

The court heard he was planning to become a student at the University of Chester.

He targeted school girls during the summer holidays in July last year.

Conversations quickly turned sexual with the defendant asking for pictures of them dressed in underwear, and arranging meetings.

He told the first victim he was 16, having consensual sex with her at his home address.

Afterwards he asked her to leave as his dad was returning home from work, and told her directions of how to get to a bus stop.

His second victim lived in Warrington, and knew he was 18.

Also 14, she met him at Warrington Central train station on September 16.

He took her to fields on Bennetts Rec, where they had sex.

The court heard she was ‘uncomfortable’ and ‘frightened’, but did not voice any concerns.

She reminded him she was 14, and he said it ‘didn’t bother him’.

He met the third victim on October 10 in Warrington.

The defendant became angry when the girl refused sex as he had gone to Asda at the Cockhedge Centre to buy condoms, the court heard.

Police were called by her parents who wanted to know where she was, finding Thorpe with her and escorting him back to the train station.

An investigation was launched and found the other victims.

Thorpe pleaded guilty on February 3 to two counts of sexual activity with a child under the age of 16, and one count of meeting a female child under the age of 16 following sexual grooming.

Defending, David Rose, said Thorpe had broken down in tears during the police interview.

He said: “He was deeply distressed and shamed.

“He is a young man with supportive parents…a work ethic, hoping to go to university, courteous on every occasion I have seen him.”

March 2014

Jail for Waterlooville pervert who met boy on Facebook

A PAEDOPHILE who had a sexual relationship with a boy he met on Facebook has been jailed.

Steven Shaw, 39, met up with the teenager after they got in touch via the social networking website.

Portsmouth Crown Court heard Shaw bought the boy a present and there was an element of ‘almost grooming’.

The court heard the boy described himself as being 24 years old on his profile.

By their second meeting, Shaw realised the victim, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was under 16. Now Shaw, from Deverell Place, Waterlooville, has been sentenced to three years and four months in jail after admitting four counts of sexual activity with a child in 2012.

The court heard in Shaw’s defence that the relationship was consensual and the case against him had come about from what he had told police.

Stephen Smyth, defending, said Shaw had apologised ‘for everything’.

Mr Smyth said: ‘The boy put himself on the website saying that he was 24 and looking for older men.

‘The crown accepted that.’

The court also heard Shaw, who has been in a relationship for about 14 years, is ‘very vulnerable,’ seems much younger than his 39 years and suffers from a dependent personality disorder.

Mr Smyth added: ‘Life has given him a particularly bad hand in my submission and that reduces his culpability.’

Addressing Shaw, judge Roger Hetherington, sentencing, said: ‘There was an element of planning and almost grooming here in the sense that you provided alcohol for him and you provided at any rate one present for him at his request and you realised that he was vulnerable.’

Judge Hetherington added: ‘I accept on your part that you made an immediate and full confession which you volunteered to the police and that you regret what has happened, although it has been noted in the pre-sentence report that the author thinks you do minimise your responsibility.

‘I accept that you yourself were dealt a very difficult start in life.’

Shaw, who has no previous convictions, was ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register.

He was given a Sex Offences Prevention Order, which will last until any further order is made.

July 2013

Four-time killer John Geary told by inmates he’s a ‘dead man walking’

A man who pleaded guilty to murdering four people is in protective custody in prison after inmates warned him: “You’re a dead man walking.”

Psycho John Geary, 37, who stabbed to death his baby daughter, her brother, his ex-girlfriend and her pal, is in isolation at Midlands Prison, Co Laois, after lags told him they were out for his blood.

Geary pleaded guilty on Monday to the quadruple killing of ex Sarah Hines, 25, their five-month-old daughter Amy, her brother Reece, three, and 20-year-old Alicia Brough.

All four were found dead at a house in Hazelgrove, Newcastle West, Co Limerick, on November 15, 2010.

Evil Geary was later arrested and charged with their murders.

A prison source last night said Geary fears for his life and pleaded with staff of the jail to put him on 23-hour lock-up.

The source said: “Geary is hated by inmates at the Midlands Prison. It doesn’t matter what crime they have committed themselves, anyone who kills a child is seen as the scum of the earth.

“His life is going to be made hell by other prisoners in there. He is in isolation now after he was told to watch his back by other inmates. Jail bosses don’t take threats like that lightly and decided to put him on the protective wing of the jail for his own safety.”

The case was brought before Mr Justice Paul Carney at the Central Criminal Court when lawyer Hugh Hartnett told the judge a jury would not be required after Geary pleaded guilty to all four counts of murder.

The horror of Geary’s brutal quadruple murder unfolded when a retired garda received a call later traced to a public phone box in Kilkee, Co Clare, telling him what had happened at the house.

Alicia had recently moved into the Hazelgrove property with pal Sarah. Her heart-broken father Peter Rolfe said the mum of two was a “princess”.

Mr Rolfe said: “She didn’t have a bad bone in her body. She was up for life.”

March 2014

Pimp who sold 15-year-old girl for sex through brothel he ran on Facebook jailed

A pimp who sold a vulnerable 15-year-old girl for sex through a brothel he ran on Facebook has been jailed.

Lee Lambert, 26, organised the business from his Kirkby flat while advertising sex with the teenager – who was living in a children’s home – through Facebook and adult websites.

A jury took just ten minutes to find him guilty of controlling prostitution for gain and keeping a brothel.

Jailing him for three years, Judge Thomas Teague QC said Lambert posed “an ongoing threat to the welfare of young people through his repeated involvement in what is euphemistically referred to as the sex trade.”

Lambert, who appeared in court wearing large sunglasses and had a nasal feeding tube for medical reasons, created an online profiles for the girl – whom he claimed was 18 – and posted provocative photos to entice potential clients to his business, which he branded “Swinger Escorts”.

A trial heard how he outlined the extreme services she was allegedly willing to perform for clients, with prices he charged ranging from £18 to £168.

Lambert, of Denvers Park, Kirkby, took a small slice of the profits allowing the girl to keep the majority.

He was jailed in 2010 after being convicted of tricking young girls into sending sexually explicit pictures of themselves to his sham “model agency”.

Lambert’s fake agency LML Modelling promised girls up to £40,000 a year.

Judge Teague told him: “This is the second time in the last four years in which you have engaged in the exploitation of girls in the so-called sex industry.

“You may not have realised that this girl was only 15 but your culpability remains high.”

A jury was told how Lambert sent text messages talking about his business, and one in which he boasted: “Pimping ain’t easy.”

He also advertised for new girls to come and work for him, prosecutors said, posting adverts for “Escorts wanted – £500 a week”.

There was another woman who was also exploited by Lambert.

Judge Teague said the girl, who cannot be identified, was “groomed” by Lambert and believed he cared for her and “had her best interests at heart”.

He said: “There was certainly no physical coercion but you manipulated her emotionally and there was most certainly an element of corruption.”

Jurors in Lambert’s trial heard that he filmed a pornographic movie involving one of his customers and giving evidence Lambert claimed that a “legal loophole” meant he was not a pimp but a pornographer.

Lambert was also handed an indefinite Sexual Offences Prevention Order, restricting his access to the internet and banning contact with children.

October 2010

Norris Green conman ran “sham” model agency to trick girls into sending him obscene pictures

A SCHEMING conman who ran a “sham” model agency to trick young girls into sending sexually explicit pictures of themselves was jailed.

Lee Lambert, 23, tried to entice underage teenagers into sending him indecent photographs with promises they could earn up to £40,000 a year.

But Lambert’s agency LML Modelling was “pure fantasy” and run from his Kirkby bedroom.

Jailing him for two years, Recorder Mark Chambers QC said: “I am quite satisfied, on the evidence I have heard, that the prosecution case was correct and this was a sham.”

He added: “I am satisfied the real reason this site was set up was to encourage young girls to send you nude and semi-nude photographs.”

The court heard Lambert deliberately advertised his fake agency on websites such as LimeWire and BearShare to target underage girls.

On August 31, 2007, he urged a 14-year-old girl to send “sexy, glam” images and suggested she signed a waiver claiming she was 18 with promises of “pro shoots” in Liverpool.

Instead of sending the pictures, the girl printed off the conversation and went to police, sparking officers to raid his home on October 25, 2007.

Recorder Chambers said obscene videos found on Lambert’s computers also proved his interest in child porn.

One 21-minute video clip showed a young female being tied up and raped. It was rated category five, the most severe.

Analysis of Lambert’s machines also revealed thousands of obscene search terms were used to scour the internet, with the term “Lolita” being entered 3,336 times and “pre-teen” on 2,835 occasions.

During his September trial, Lambert claimed his business was worth up to £1m, had won awards and even said he had done work for New York fashion week.

He also insisted he had represented famous glamour models and a Playboy girl.

Lambert, of Guilsted Road, Norris Green, told jurors his girlfriend Jacqueline Brady had suddenly revealed she was responsible for the online chats with underage girls because she wanted to set him up.

He said Miss Brady, the mum of his young child, suffered from borderline personality disorder and stored the profiles of underage girls in a bid to get him in trouble so he would quit the modelling industry.

But jurors rejected his story and unanimously convicted him of one charge of inciting child pornography and three of making indecent images.

Desmond Lennon, defending, said Lambert still maintained his denials. He said: “He still says the website was set up for legitimate reasons and the indecent images were not of his making.”

March 2014

Pervert pretended to be teenager online to get girl, 14, to send naked pictures

A man who pretended to be a teenage boy online to get a 14-year-old girl to send him naked pictures of herself has been jailed.

Curtis Robinson, 24, befriended the girl on a chat site and claimed to be 17, before asking for indecent images.

He threatened to share photos of her on the internet if she did not send him more, but the girl alerted the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre.

When police raided Robinson’s home in Snowdonia Way, Huntingdon, they discovered indecent images on his computer and his phone.

At Peterborough Crown Court, he was jailed for two-and-a-half years and placed on the sex offenders’ register.

At an earlier hearing, he had pleaded guilty to inciting a child to engage in pornography, possessing indecent images and distributing indecent images,

Det Con Gareth Purdy said: “Robinson befriended this young girl online. He was fully aware of her age and tried to take advantage of her vulnerability.

“Thankfully the victim reported him to the chat site.

“We would always encourage parents to notify police if they suspect their child has been contacted by older people online.”